Instagram Q&A – Part 2

Q&A continues to be one of my favorite things. Here’s more Instagram Q&A!

Q: What are Stories?
A: Stories are short, disposable posts that last for 24 hours. You can add photos or videos to your story, and people watch and tap through them like television. Viewers can reply to stories, and you’ll get a Direct Message in your inbox. You can see who watched your stories, and then highlight your best stories on your profile.

Q: How many times per day should I post?
A: I generally recommend once per day in the feed (5 -7 posts per week maximum), and 5-10 stories per day. Don’t post just for the sake of posting, but make sure you are posting valuable and useful content that your followers will enjoy and benefit from!

Q: What are hashtags?
A: A hashtag is a description with a pound sign in front of it. Hashtags are a way of grouping posts together. For instance, if you add #photography to a post you’ve made, if someone searches the hashtag #photography, they could see your picture grouped among the many, many others that used that hashtag.

Q: How many hashtags can I use on Instagram?
A: You can use a maximum of 30.

Q: But what are the point of hashtags?
A: If you tap on a hashtag within the Instagram app, you can find other posts that have used the same tag. If you want to find posts of puppies in your city, Instagram doesn’t provide a way to just search “puupies in my city”. You’d have to use #puppiesnameofcity or #nameofcitypuppies and see what comes up.

Q: What hashtags should I use for my posts?
A: Try to think about what hashtags would be appropriate to describe you, your business, or the picture. It’s ok if you use a hashtag and that picture doesn’t exactly relate – if other picture on the account do. For instance, if you’re a frozen yogurt shop regularly posting pictures of amazing desserts, it’s ok that you have a picture of a staff member and still use the hashtag “#cheatmeal”.

Q: When I use hashtags on my posts, nothing happens!
A: That’s because you’re using hashtags with millions of pictures already using that hashtag. A better plan would be to choose a very appropriate, descriptive hashtag with less than 500,000 posts (under 100,000 posts is even better!). This gives you a better chance of having your post be seen because there are so many less other posts competing for attention.

Q: Why should I use Stories if I’m already making regular posts on Instagram? What’s so great about Stories?
A: If your feed is the more “professional” face you show to the world, Stories are the casual, behind the scenes stuff you can show without fear of repercussion. Using Stories, you can show what the day-to-day of your life is like in small, bite-sized chunks. If someone isn’t in to your story, that’s no problem – they can just tap through.

Look for more Q&A next Tuesday!

Have questions about something I didn’t cover here? Shoot me an email using the Contact page!